Like Puzzle Pieces
by Hipster Butterfree
Summary: For the moment, Hugh thought about how prefect she fit in his arms; they were like... puzzle pieces. Hugh lost himself for a moment, only to be knocked back into reality by the rough flailing of Mei. SequelShipping, post-Elite Four. May contain spoilers for W2/B2.


Mei was hurt.

Mei was hurt and it wasn't someone else who was at fault. No, it wasn't Team Plasma. She didn't lose to a Gym Leader or trainer. She didn't witness her Pokemon getting severely injured—she loved them to such an extreme that she would die if they were to.

She was hurt because of Hugh. No one on earth could doubt it.

He tried to chase her down while she ran across shore of Undella Town. Surprisingly, the girl was faster. It was the months of traveling that built her like such. She was already near the beginning of Undella Bay at that point.

"Mei," he hollered through his inconsistent pants, "you come back here before I... I... I make you!" he blankly threatened.

She was forced to stop at the edge of the shore. But she still wasn't going to give in. Not yet. She quickly reached into her bag, pulling out the only Dusk Ball within it. Hugh knew which Pokemon that the Dusk Ball belonged to—her Skarmory. Maximus the Skarmory was much faster than his Unfenzant and Flygon. Catching her and apologizing was so important at that point. Seconds before she could click the button and release the Steel Bird—Hugh had finally caught up.

He untimely wrapped his arms around her. He held her so tightly just for that moment. He was able to feel her shivering underneath his touch. Hugh wasn't sure if the shivering was out of anger or just being flustered from it all. For the moment, Hugh thought about how prefect she fit in his arms—they were like puzzle pieces. Hugh lost himself for a moment, only to be knocked back into reality by the rough flailing of Mei. Her arms managed to slip out of his strong grip.

She violently attempted to shove his arms away from her waist. She was trying to hard that she curled her body to attempt to squeeze out of his embrace. Yet, Hugh refused to let go. Even if he wanted to let go, his body wouldn't let him—his body was aware that if he did let her go, something terrible would happen to them. Though, he was probably just being selfish.

"Mei—dammit! Calm down!" Hugh ordered her as he still to attempt to hold her down.

"N-No! Let me go!" she semi cried-snapped at him in the most hatred-filled tone Hugh had ever heard from the kind girl.

Hugh continued to struggle bring tranquility the girl. No matter what, she continued so scream at him and wail. He was sure he felt a tear land on the fingerless glove of one of his hands. He tried an array of different things to endeavor to her sedation—shushing her, keeping himself silent to allow her to clear her mind maybe, attempting to hug her in a more affectionate way, and he even tried to pull a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

His rival did not have her visor on or her impossibly large buns up. Her wavy, sepia tone hair covered all her back and nearly reached her hips. No wonder she kept it up, it was probably a nuisance if she didn't. She wasn't even in her regular outfit. She was in a pair of black athletic shorts and a magenta tank top—her supposed pajamas.

The two had shared a hotel room since, despite Mei's growing popularity, the two weren't that wealthy. A conflict resulted in her stomping out of the hotel with her bag by her side. Her hair was beautiful. Hugh hadn't seen it like so since the last time they shared a room back in Castelia. He had made up to her after the sewer incident. Turned out that Mei has an undeniable fear of Grimer...

It took him every muscle to resist not to reach down and pull that strand of her hair back. He gulped as she continued to fight—harder and harder. It was unmistakable that Mei wasn't going to give up anytime soon. Hugh's immense hands reached up and civilly squeezed her forearms, still restraining her.

"Mei, will you please calm—"

"No!" she jerked away, successfully, finally escaping.

She didn't really have any choice but to land herself in the salty ocean at the edge of her bare toes. She fell onto her knees, reaching her hands out into the smooth sand under the water to soften her fall. The Dusk Ball fell into the water but was washed up by the wave of the ocean near Mei's waist. Mei petite hands fumbled towards the ball but she was beaten by Hugh.

Hugh backed away with her Skarmory's Pokeball, causing her to quickly get up and chase after him. A slosh of water followed her, weighing her down slightly. Her pants were soaking wet and so was the bottom on the front of her tank top. She could already feel herself shivering.

"Hugh, dic—" it was clear she bit back a vulgar word—Mei was not the kind to curse, "... s-s-selfish jerk! Give me my Maximus back!"

He held it above his head, making sure the shorter teen couldn't get the Pokeball from his hand. "No. Let's talk this over then maybe—"

"Hugh! We aren't going to 'talk this over'!" she tiredly snapped at him as she crossed her arms.

Hugh promptly noticed a layer of goosebumps forming over her arms. That's probably why she crossed her arms—she was freezing. Ever since Team Plasma froze sections of Unova, the climate had got colder—even during the normally subtle Autumn. Plus, the sun was not visible anymore for the night was upon them.

She wearily sighed, brushing the back of her limitless sepia, wavy hair, "Whenever you... you yell at a girl like that, don't expect for forgiveness! You're lucky you have a friend like me; someone who takes that crap! But Hugh, when you take it to the level of hurting me..." she took in a shaky breath, her eyes starting to swell with a new set of tears, "... hurting me like tha—"

"Mei, I wasn't trying to hurt you!" Hugh retorted, not allowing her to finish her downcast toned sentence.

She huffed before bitterly and sarcastically hissing back, "Oh, sure. Then what were you doing, Hugh? Why did you pin me on the bed, Hugh?"

Hugh felt his neck heating up. He grunted in an action to clear his throat as he rubbed the flush skin. The image of the two on the hotel bed struck his mind. Hugh was on top with his hands playfully pinning her wrist. Neither was sure how it all happened but before Hugh could finally kiss her, she panicked. She pushed him away—he got off willingly. Before he knew it, she had run out in a crying phase.

He sighed, growing exhausted over the conflict. Maximus' Dusk Ball was placed into Hugh's jacket pocket for the time being. Her cobalt blue eyes glared his hand down, watching as he preformed this. Hugh was honest with her, "If you think I was trying to goddamn rape you, then you're insane. I would never hurt you like that, Mei, not in a thousand years—"

"Then why were you trying to—"

She was interrupted when he leaned forward to her eye level. His hands grabbed her forearms in a rushed action. He had to remind himself not to blow up on her.

"I want to kiss you because I like you, Mei! I like you way more than just a friend! There! You have your final answer!"

He continued to stare into her slowly softening cobalt eyes. Hugh was still catching his breath from the run and the tussle. Mei was too but she also was required to catch up on her breath after hearing Hugh's reasoning.

He liked her. That made so much sense.

He reached into his pocket, grabbing Maximus. Hugh handed the Dusk Ball to Mei, his fingertips brushing over hers as he exchanged with her. He gave her a bittersweet smile and for a brief second, she could swear that she saw his lip tremble. His lip would tremble only if something occurred that would make him anxious.

"You can go if you want to. I just wanted to explain that to you, Mei. I didn't want us to bare grudges against one another." Hugh spoke in his undertone.

She shook her head 'no'. "No, it's... fine. Let's go back to the hotel."

"Hold up."

He took his tepid hand away, causing her to feel an odd loneliness. She wasn't sure what had happened next but she heard his jacket tussle. He dismantled his jacket, revealing a basic black t-shirt and his bare neck. Mei observed to see a faded yet noticeable scar that reached all around his neck. The vexatious-looking scar appeared to be from an attack from a Pokemon's claws—a Zangoose maybe? It wasn't recent, not at all. It appeared to be at least...

A six-year-old scar. Six years ago, his sister's Purrloin was taken away. Mei hypothesized that he received that during the fight with the Team Plasma Grunts who stole the Pokemon. Hugh attempted to slip his jacket on her.

"Hugh, you don't have t—"

"Will you shush? Of course I have to. I was so rude to you, wasn't I? I'm the reason you're freezing." he retorted.

She mentally cursed his ability to make comebacks so easily. He slipped it onto her, zipping it up after. She blushed at the feeling of his warm jacket. She caught his scent on the jacket—his scent was similar to the nostalgic scent of their hometown. Her hands clutched the sleeves from the inside since the jacket was huge on her. His hand reached back and brushed out her sepia hair that was trapped in the interior of the jacket.

Mei sighed, feeling an odd heaviness in her chest. "Hugh... I'm... s-s—"

"Mei, you don't have to apologize." he huffed, not into the sappy forgiveness part of conflicts.

Her blush grew heavier on cue. She tiredly sighed as she snuggled into the jacket. "Oh—al-alright."

"Now..." he stood straight, Mei was required to look up, "do you want to go back to the hotel?"

"Yes, but... Hugh?" she softly mewed his name.

He raised an eyebrow as his maroon eyes glanced towards her.

"I'm going to apologize, I don't care what you say," she rushed her words before he could come in and interrupt her, "I'm sorry that... I accused you of wanting to do... something bad to me. I'm sorry I-I... panicked on you like that. I was just confused."

"Oh..." he didn't really know what to say at the point, unaware of what would happen in the next few moments.

He was further confused when she grabbed his forearms and used his body as support as she placed his lips on his.

The swift action made his maroon eyes go impossibly wide. He couldn't quite puzzle if it was because he was shocked, confused, satisfied... He let that all go and brought his attention back to Mei. His arms unconsciously wrapped around her petite waist and his widened maroon eyes closed. Hugh parted the lip-lock, only to nuzzle his head in the crook of her neck as he tightened their embrace.

"Well, I was right. You have good instincts..." Hugh teased, causing her to giggle.


End file.
